Siege of Tewksberry
The Siege of Tewksberry was the turning point of the Spring Campaign that lasted nine days. The Forsaken surrounded the town and began bombardment and assaulted the town four times, being repulsed each time. On the ninth day, Syr Glyndwr arrived with the Bleiddiaid y Dyffryn and Order of the Sable Dragon, charging from behind and caused heavy casualties with the Mynydd moose cavalry. The Forsaken routed back into the Blackwater Bogs on their way to Blackwater Keep. Background Aleksy was on a winning streak across Southern Stromgarde, but his momentum was weakened after the Siege of Blackwater Keep -- the House of Derry managed to hold out for far long than Aleksy had initially intended. Aleksy was given a strict timetable to adhere to and so far his victories were purely due to overwhelming force. After been slowed down further by the House of Cheswick skilled skirmishers, delaying the force from arriving for an additional three days. This delay allowed Arthur Cheswick to build proper defenses and raise forces in order to hold the town. Siege The First Eight Days Upon arriving, the siege lines were immediately set up -- Aleksy was nothing if not a master siege tactician who committed very few mistakes in his living and unliving career with few exceptions. He estimated that he would require an additional thirteen days in order to take Tewksberry and end his campaign until reinforcements arrived. By the dawn of the second day, he began bombardment from his meat wagons. For the next three days, bombardment happened non-stop with the intention to weaken the garrison with disease and death. As he was already behind on his timetable, he made the decision that taking the town with increased casualties was worth the catch-up he was required to do in order to prepare for the campaign against the House of Paston, easily the most dangerous of the southern Stromic houses. The first assault happened on the fifth day and it was a tragic failure; the morale of the Stromic defenders was still high despite the bombardment and losses of Stromgarde. Two more assaults were made on the sixth and seventh day, but both lost more than one hundred men each, causing bombardments for the rest of the seventh day and an assault on the eight day. Aleksy made marginal gains on the eighth day, theorizing that he would take the garrison in two more days. The Mynydd Arrive In the early morning hours of the ninth day, just as the Forsaken were preparing for another day of bombardment, a horn sounded from the east. To both the defender's and attacker's surprise, three-hundred thirty moose-mount cavalry bearing a standard of a sanguine dragon upon an argent field charged the rear of the Forsaken. The unknown banner took the Forsaken by surprise. The results were devastating; the cavalry force killed more than half of the remaining Forsaken and destroyed all their siege equipment. The defenders morale renewed, they sallied from the town and began to slaughter the unprepared Forsaken. Aleksy called for a full retreat, hastening back into the Blackwater Bogs to regroup. Those who came to Tewksberry's defense were the Mynydd's elite soldiers of the Bleiddiaid y Dyffryn and their War-Clerics of the Order of the Sable Dragon. Sir Glyndwr led the force, an aged and experienced Knight of the Silver Hand. Arthur Cheswick's words on the battle years later are immortalized: "...I remember staying up all night for I knew that my end was coming. I wrote a letter to my wife, and children to flee to Ironforge, I said my final prayers to the Light and then I stood on the walls in my armor and waited for my end. When dawn came we heard a horn and our hearts sank, for we could not see the banners. We thought it was reinforcements for the rotters... but as the dawn's light shone over the plains, we knew that they weren't Forsaken. As the realization went through our tired defenders, I began to shout: 'Stromgarde is not yet lost, my comrades! Stromgarde is not yet lost!' '' ''We quickly mounted our horses and joined in the attack... and for at least a little while afterwards, we realized, that our country had not yet been lost after all." Aftermath The Siege of Tewksberry was the single turning point of the campaign, shifting the momentum into Stromic favor. With new allies, Lord Arthur Cheswick would lead the combined forces of Strom and Mynydd in a counter-offensive to take back land lost only a month prior. Numbers are unknown, but the Forsaken Hand of Wrath lost more than three-quarters of its fighting strength at the Siege over the four assaults and the final rout. This is compared to the mere one hundred sixty lost on the Stromic side, mostly from the garrison. Category:Forsaken Category:Human Category:Mynydd Category:Kingdom of Stromgarde Category:Battles